The present invention is related to corsage holding devices and more particularly to such devices to facilitate pinning of the corsage to clothing.
Almost everyone has experienced some difficulty in pinning a corsage to a person's clothing. The difficulty arises from a confusing combination of flower stems, wire wrapping and tape. The sheer bulk of this arrangement makes it difficult to penetrate the corsage stem with the straight pins usually provided. Too often the person is penetrated by the pin also. It is therefore desirable to obtain some inexpensive device to make the pinning of a corsage onto the clothing of a person an easier task without endangering either the person pinning the corsage or the person on whom it is being pinned.
The above problem was recognized to some degree by U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,447 which discloses a holder and fastener for flowers and corsages comprised of two independent members. A first member is connectable to the stems of a corsage or flower and the remaining member is positionable at the inside surface of a garment. The two are secured by pins projecting through the garment. The pins are of substantial size and could damage the garment fabric. Use is also restricted by fabric thickness.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,205,537 discloses an open flower holder. This flower holder is made of foldable paper or other flexible material that may be formed into an upwardly open cup. A spaced pair of slots are formed through the material near the upwardly open end of the container to receive the shank of a safety pin. No obvious advantage is gained by providing such a container and pin arrangement to ease the task of pinning the corsage.
A similar receptacle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,678,810. In this patent, a solid receptacle is disclosed, having a longitudinal recess for receiving water and the stems of flowers. A downwardly protruding pin is also included with the receptacle to permit attachment of the receptacle to a wearer's clothing. Again, no means is provided to receive a separate pin nor is the task of pinning the receptacle to clothing eased in any manner.
A different approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,195 which discloses two separate magnets for holding a corsage to a wearer's clothing. One magnet is attached to the stem of a corsage, while the other magnet is positioned at the inside surface of the fabric to magnetically hold the corsage on the wearer's clothing. Although this is a simple and painless device for applying and holding a corsage to a wearer's clothing, it is relatively expensive and might therefore unreasonably elevate the cost of the corsage. Also, fabric thickness may reduce the gripping force of the magnets.
The present invention is embodied in a corsage holder that may be made simply by molding a single body of plastic. The holder is therefore very inexpensive for a florist to supply with each corsage. The device includes an elongated body that may be taped along with the flower stems. Outwardly projecting portions at the ends of the holder body include transverse inclined apertures for loosely receiving corsage pins normally supplied by the florist. The apertures are located outward from the corsage stem in order to enable the wearer or some other person to easily insert a pin through a fabric fold, then through the aperture, and then through another fabric fold on the other side of the holder. One or two pins will then securely fasten the holder and attached corsage to the wearer's clothing.